My Vietnamese boyfriend

Folk dancers from Champa people
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I remain in Hoi An running out of money as my card remains somewhere in transit and Kurt is sending me money by Western Union but is so busy he has not been able to get to an office.  Luckily I can still afford to eat as food is quite cheap here.

Yesterday I took a bus to My Son ( me son).  It is an ancient ruin from the time of Hindu influence in coastal Vietnam.  The people are called Champa and they still exist as a small minority here.  The site is small and much of it was bombed in the war.  Unesco is again funding restoration.  The structures are all brick and very worn by time and weather.  The setting is in a forested area with a clear stream running through it.  The temperature is very pleasant and I didn't sweat much walking around.

Teegar posing at My Son
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After returning to town the kid who took me out the night before came to the hotel and picked me up.  His name is Nam Do ( there are inflection marks over both names).  He took me to this local place and we had satay.  Here what you do is take a very thin rice paper triangle and roll greens, cabbage and satay into a roll then dip in a sauce.  Lucky for me not a hot sauce.  Really tasty.  We also had some rice pancakes which he rolled up the same way.  I had my second night of disco dancing.  We are ushered in by at least two doormen,  There are loads of people working just policing the scene.  You order and they attempt to set all kinds of extra stuff on the table like pistachios and fruit but you can refuse it.  Very loud, Lots of flash.  The music is a Vietnamese version of popular dance music at home.  I could only stand about an hour.

A bomb crater where a ruins used to be
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Nam Do drove to the hotel and as is his custom shook my hand and said " Thank you for the lovely evening"

Today He picked me up again and we went out to a market here in town.  We had something to eat and the woman working there started talking to me.  She spoke good English.  She told me about having had an American soldier boyfriend in 1969.  His name is Bob Kerry.  He was from California.  She said she thinks of him every day.  She has not heard anything of him for 35 years.  She was very gracious and refused to let me use the public toilet insisting that her husband take me to her house nearby to use the bathroom there.  She works 7 days a week at her eatery by the market.  She said she has 4 children and 4 grandchildren that she helps support.

We then went to the beach.  The ocean was cold and I just waded in the waves.  Like anywhere else the beach has many people selling.  Here the products tend to be fruit, gum, nuts, and the local English newspaper which is almost always sold by a handicapped person.

I have the evening to myself as my new Vietnamese boyfriend is going home to rest but he plans on picking me up tomorrow to visit our friend at the market restaurant.